Colorado’s 14ers are one of the state’s most popular features. Over the past few decades, summiting 14ers has become an increasingly popular pastime, and Mt. Bierstadt is one of the peaks that consistently draws the highest crowds. That means Guanella Pass, the thoroughfare along which the Bierstadt trailhead lies, is a household name in Colorado. Those willing to cast their eyes beyond Bierstadt though will find that Guanella Pass is a hub for beautiful hikes along the Continental Divide. This post details one of those hikes.

After an hour on the road from Denver, we reached the town of Grant and made the turn on to the southern terminus of Guanella Pass. It was sunny and mild. A perfect day for a hike. The road was quiet in the early morning – the combination of hiking on a week day and Colorado’s insanely high precipitation this year working in our favor. We turned down a dirt track past the Duck Creek Picnic Area and slowly, slowly, proceeded around the ruts and rocks along Geneva Creek.

We arrived at the Shelf Lake trailhead to find an empty parking lot. We didn’t know it yet, but despite the trail being earmarked as a popular destination online, it would end up being one of the most solitary trips we had been on in a long time. We started hiking to the sounds of nothing but birdsong and our own shoes.

The journey to Shelf Lake would have around 2,000′ of elevation gain. We knew that from stats recorded online. Unfortunately, as with many of our hikes, it appeared that most of that gain would be happening within one short stretch of the trail. After the initial gentle upwards slope the trail abruptly turned to switchbacks. Within the first mile we had clear views of the valley below in the clear morning light.

We also knew from online stats the trail had multiple water crossings over the unnamed creeks that went on to join with Geneva Creek. With the aforementioned precipitation in Colorado this year, we were nervous about how navigable some of the crossings would be. Yet we need not have feared. The waters, while certainly running high and fast, remained straightforward to cross. Mica sparkled in the water as we passed.

With the exception of birds and intermittent clouds of mosquitoes, the wildlife along the trail remained surprisingly sparse. Even those flying lifeforms started disappearing as we made it up into the willowy meadows of Smelter Gulch at the top of the valley. The snowfields which still dotted parts of this area showed only human footprints.

The snowfields were also melting rapidly. Brooks had formed along the trail at several points, and where we weren’t trying to dodge the mud and water, we were postholing through the snow itself.

The snowfields were still large enough that we eventually lost track of the trail entirely. Going off of a hunch, we veered left to climb a hill at the northwest end of the gulch.

After a time climbing over rocks and around scrub we reached the top of the incline. Here Skyler spotted a lone red fox. Here we found the trail again. Here we also found Shelf Lake.

Still partially frozen over and with the Continental Divide behind it, the lake was an absolute stunner. There was a cool, gentle wind carrying the scent of alpine vegetation. There was nary a cloud in the sky. We found a couple rocks on which to sit and take in the sights.

Ultimately we chose not to stay at the lake for long. Absent the warmth generated by hiking, we found that the air was shy a few degrees of what was comfortable. Once on the move again though we were quickly sweating beneath the sun. It was a rapid descent back to the parking area, taking just shy of an hour from lake shore to car door. In the end the hike capped out at 7.5 miles and about 3,000′ of gain, by our own measurements.

See you next time.

~Ty & Sky